Joan's Big Trip Surprise - updated 7/21 with both Parts I and II About This Page:

[DawnDenise]

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...and got a towel from the hunka hunka burning love Cabana Man (new term for CM). Olay Olay, Olay Olay, Hot, Hot Hot, sing with me now.

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Don't know why this one caught me as hilarious but it did. Still giggling!

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Suzy and Perla were hitting on Pat. I tossed them out on their tails.

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Another classic!!! With the whole taco bed thing, I was laughing pretty hard. The images...the images!!! :rolf2:

Keep it coming!!! You are hilarious!!

[JoanW]

The Circle of Life, Animal Kingdom Day, Tuesday, June 14, 2005

I woke up at 6:30 again, because SOMEONE LEFT THE BATHROOM DOOR OPEN. But that’s okay; I wanted to get my day started. I let Pat sleep in a little, and left him in the center of the more pronounced taco bed. He’s a bed hog anyway, so he enjoyed the coziness of mattress all around him. I repacked the cooler, ate a turkey and squeeze cheese wrap for breakfast, and assembled my paperwork needs for the day. We got the Disney Dining Experience, but I still needed the letter, as my cards did not arrive until we got home. I had been bringing the Deeeluxe Passporter in the car every day and reading highlights and recommendations of Dave, Jen and the readers and Allie’s a-okays. I noticed that my feet are still tender from walking yesterday and predicted that I was developing some really big blisters. I’d been wearing my Eddie Bauer brand Tevas, which were not new, and were fully broken in and I thought down right comfy. I wanted air on my feet and could not imagine putting my feet into sneakers in the heat we’ve been having. I decide to tough it out. Rachel thinks they are ugly, so I especially wear them just for her.

Grace, Rachel and Marco are up by 8:30 and are nourished with sugar, flour, and milk in the form of cereal. The recommended portion on the cereal box is ½ cup. What manufacturer in their right mind put that measurement on the box? The serving size for teens is a large salad bowl. We decide we need another trip to the Wal-Mart Supercenter to restock the Reese Puffs and the Oreo-o’s and more crackers and squeeze cheese. Marco has been enjoying all aspects of the Eagle Pointe house and has discovered their PS 2, complete with Stuntman and some race car driver games. He plays as soon as the cereal is consumed until we walk out the door and plays as soon as he’s taken his Après Park dip in the pool. He played until the wee hours of the morning, but hey, he’s on vacay.

Neil is up and about and his sunburn is starting to peel. Grace’s is still blistering, so she has to wear shirts that cover her shoulders. The Princess awoke by 9:30 and worked hard at getting ready. She came out of her bedroom sporting a Hawaiian wrap, or sarong type skirt, that is really a folded piece of fabric that she wrapped around her self and platform sandals. I commented that we were going to get soaked on the Kali River Rapids, and that the sandals were not going to be comfortable for the amount of walking we were going to do. The heat index was also predicted to be near 100 again today with the combo of heat and humidity, my favorite! But hey, what do I know??? She wanted to look good, at any cost.

We made it out of the house by 11:30, a record for us so far. Oh, but wait, she forgot her ticket and left it in the shorts she wore yesterday, so we had to go back to the house. Okay, we are on the road again by noon and we are good to go.

First things first, we head to the Tree of Life for It’s Tough to Be a Bug, one of my favorites.

We didn’t have a Fastpass, so we waited in line for an hour. Rachel’s misty fan came in very handy. Camille hates bugs, but we had fun anyway, and the stinkbug is still my favorite.

We sent Pat ahead to get us Kali Fastpasses, and we hiked on over to the Safari. The line was not too bad for the Safari, so we did that and everyone enjoyed the animals. This park was not open the last time Camille, Marco or Neil were there last time, so they were trying to see it all. Camille was becoming uncomfortable in her sarong and was trying to shorten the fabric; only it was making the layers thicker and less manageable. But she felt she looked good.

While we were waiting for our Kali Fastpass, we walked through the Panganini Forest. Again, the newbies loved it. Grace and Rachel and I kind of did a zoom through. We were in search of the Nestle Premium Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich. I needed ice cream nourishment, so we went ahead and found the cart near the entrance to Asia. Marco’s eyes seemed to gloss over, so I got one for him and Pat. Camille declined one for her and Neil, as she felt a drink of water would sustain them. She suggested to Marco that he have the low fat fruit pop or something, and he laughed at her like she was nuts. This is the kid that ordered chocolate chip cookies from room service every few hours on the cruise. He asked me why Neil could not have one, and I told him, if Camille says he can’t have one, he can’t have one. He rolled his eyes. I like this kid!

After our ice cream nourishment, we had a little time to kill before Kali. We decided to have a look-see through the Maharajah Jungle. Last time we missed this, so it was something new for all of us. My cell phone rang and it was my neighbor Mary. She called to tell me it was almost 100 at home, and I told her we had matching temperatures and no sign of rain.

We started walking through the jungle and came upon the bat area. I’m sorry, but I was wishing I had on a turtleneck shirt. I needed protection from the vampires! Did you all see the size of those suckers? (Hahaha, I kill myself sometimes).

I think I saw the fruit hanging along side of them, so I did a note to self: fruit bats, not vampires.

Grace and I meandered along to see the tigers. This one tiger seems to be wandering down to the water’s edge of his area. I didn’t think tigers liked water. He got closer and stuck his back paw in, almost like I do, when I am testing the temperature at the pool before I make my descent, a toe at a time.

Then he squatted down and peed in the pool. A lot. Grace and I were hysterical with laughter, and one woman said, well, I guess he doesn’t go where he sleeps. After the show was over, we finished and waited for the rest of the group to meet us at Kali. I reminded everyone that dinner was in an hour at Boma and we would need to head out of the park after Kali as it was almost 4:30 and dinner was at 5:40. As we came out of the jungle, we saw the parade go by. We did not see that last time and I'm glad we saw at least some of it this time.

I brought a few Dollar Store ponchos with me, but not enough for everyone. Pat and I let the kids have ponchos, and thought, five out of seven is not bad, what are my chances of getting soaked? Pretty great as a matter of fact. Enough that I had to stop and buy a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and Go Commando (from an episode of Friends). I know, I know, "Over Sharing of Personal Information", but I got soaked to the bone on that ride. No one else seemed to be as soaked as I was, and even with the heat, I did not dry out. Camille’s sarong was looking weathered, and her feet were swollen.

We left the park and waited for the bus to take us to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I knew Camille would love this as she had loved all of Animal Kingdom. She loves animals of all kind, and took 100’s of photos of everything we saw, in various poses and stages that day. We arrived after a 20-minute wait for the bus and I headed to the bathroom after we checked in at Boma to change my clothes. Within minutes the flasher went off, and we headed over to our seats.

I have to say that I really loved Boma. It was our first time there and I will go again. The food was so different, but good. The Beef Boys ate their share of the sirloin tips. I love curried food, so I sampled everything curried. I also tried the Bobotie, which they told me was beef and lamb and corn meal topping, I believe. I had seconds of that. I had several different salads and the soups were so delicious. And the desserts were pretty scrumptious too. Rachel and Grace tried the Zebra Domes and Marco had several chocolate mousse things. The lovebirds fed each other things at the table and the rest of the kids did the “gag me” finger thing. Our server was not the most social person, and the one we had last night at 1900 Park Faire was not either. I’m hoping our servers get better as we spend Pat’s money. I did tip nicely, even if they were not as attentive as Grace’s Zoran. Sigh, we miss him already.

After dinner we grazed over to the Arusha Rock to see what evening animals we could see. It was only 6:40 or so, but the animals were starting to meander around. Lots of giraffe, wildebeests, and other antlered things were started to have a late snack. Pat told Marco he should call his dad to let him know he was alive, as they had not spoken since he dropped Marco off at the Dayton, Ohio airport. Naturally, I eavesdropped and heard him tell him he was having a wonderful time and could not wait to show him the video of himself swimming with dolphins. Note to self: so worth every penny spent so far on this trip.

We walked over to the pool area to see a few more wild animals. Marco (everyone shout Polo) asked me if I had anything on the agenda for tonight, and I told him that we were done for the day. He was happy, he wanted to go for a swim and play Stuntman till he passed out.


We rode the bus back to Animal Kingdom and caught a tram to the car. On the way back, we enjoyed the iced sodas that I remembered to put in the car this time. Grace listened to her IPod on the ride home, leaving Rachel and Camille to bug each other. Neil gave them the Evil Eye. Like they would be afraid. He does not have the power of my Evil Eye.

We got back to the house around 9:00 pm, our first early night in over a week and the kids went swimming for a while. I changed my clothes and stopped Going Commando. I noticed that my feet were not feeling great and quarter sized blisters were on the bottoms of my feet. And the box had arrived! It was in the foyer waiting for us. I have my misty mates and hydropacks!

Rachel got one of the other Master Suites in the house. She has the smallest bedroom of all of us in our house, so she claimed it early in the planning stages. She had a king sized bed, a 19’ tv, and her own bath, with the nice soaking tub. I plopped a few foot fizzies in her tub and soaked my feet for a while. She lounged on her king sized bed and watched tv. I came out after soaking a while, and she was sound asleep, tv on, glasses on her face, and a book in her hand. She’s on vacay.

Pat investigated the taco bed, and upon removal of the mattress and box springs (king mattress, two twin box springs), he saw that the owners or the management company had done a cheap repair on a broken bed frame, using pipe clamps. The reason the bed is becoming a taco is that the center rod is separating from the frame, causing the box springs to separate, making the mattress sink in the middle. I suggested my duct tape, but Pat want to do something more substantial. He decided to go to Wal-Mart Supercenter tomorrow and look at potential repair items. He temporarily tightens the clamps and put it all back together. The temporary repair lasted all of five minutes and he was snoring in the taco fold in no time. I reminded the kids that we were going to Typhoon Lagoon tomorrow, and I wanted to be there at the opening or close to it. Swimsuits were all that is required, so we won’t have to spend precious morning time on outfits. I did a few loads of laundry, loaded and ran the dishwasher, packed a few things for the next day, and called it a night. Just like at home!

Look - Lizards are our friends! (Hi Bill!)

[DrDolphin]

Great update Joan - the taco bed has me

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update Joan Sorry you had to go commando You crack me up

I can't wait for more

[lauren-roxy]

Great update Joan!!! You had me hysterically laughing the entire time I read it!! Cna't wait to read more!!!

[luvnwdwgal]

Can't wait for more Joan!!!!

[kimdisneynut]

Great report.

Kim

[DawnDenise]

Oh my goodness Joan!! Commando!!! Too funny! More please!!

[whoSEZ]

Joan, when you're done with this TR, will you go on vacay again so you can write another one??

[RobDVC]

Taco Beds, commandos, peeing Tigers... this Trip Report has it all!

[barries5199]

I have never before so thoroughly enjoyed reading about someone else's vacation! Your writing really brings to mind Erma Bombeck. You've got a real gift, and I thank you for sharing.

There's no way I could pick just one favorite quote, but I really laughed hard at
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He asked me why Neil could not have one, and I told him, if Camille says he can’t have one, he can’t have one. He rolled his eyes.

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[Cinderbrella]

I am really enjoying your TR, Joan!! I thought Pat had found that lizard(from your pic) when he was moving the mattress around!
Hope your feet get to feeling better for the rest of your trip.

[JoanW]

If the lizard had popped out when he moved the mattress, I would have jumped out of my skin. I can deal with them outside, but not inside!

[Luv2plan]

Your TR is so much fun!! Looking forward to more....

[hktmom]

Now, if Joan could just come live with me for a week or two and write a TR about my life...THAT would be downright hysterical! I could read all about it and actually find humor in it!

That, by the way Joan, was an open invitation. I REALLY want to laugh at my life!

Heather